Potters old boy Danny Higginbotham has been highlighting the benefits of good defending in the lead-up to Monday night's Brighton v Stoke City clash (8pm).

Higginbotham was a member of the notoriously mean Potters backline who helped the club stave off relegation during their early days as a Premier League club.

And he has been praising the Seagulls for taking a similar route to self-preservation on their return to the top flight… while hinting it is a lesson that Mark Hughes' Potters would do well to quickly relearn.

He said: “Defences keep you up. For us (at Stoke), in our first couple of years, more often than not at home if we scored a goal we would win the game. We had a ridiculous amount of clean sheets in those first two years.

Danny Higginbotham holds off the challenge of Chelsea forward Didier Drogba during a Premier League match at the Britannia Stadium on September 27, 2008. (Image: CARL DE SOUZA)

“Anyone will tell you – and this is why I don’t understand why managers don’t take it as seriously as they should do – it is easier to defend than it is to score.

“I have seen it at times recently with Stoke. You can score two or three goals and not get any points, whereas if you keep a clean sheet you’ve got a point.

“It’s seen as boring now, but it’s key to it as far as I’m concerned. Brighton have done that. They’ve got four of the same back five (from promotion) and that’s why they are doing so well.”

Brighton's players form a huddle prior to their Premier League match against Southampton at the Amex Stadium on October 29, 2017. (Image: Steve Bardens)

Higginbotham is analysing Monday’s televised clash at the Amex for Premier League Productions. In an interview with the Brighton Argus, he said continuity is also important if promoted teams are to prosper.

He explained: “When I went back to Stoke after promotion, goalkeeper Thomas (Sorensen) was new, but we still had Ryan Shawcross, Andy Griffin, Andy Wilkinson, Liam Lawrence, Rory Delap and Ricardo Fuller.

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"At Stoke, it wasn't the nicest place to go. The changing rooms weren't great, the fans and things like that.

"Burnley have that as well. Brighton haven’t, but they’ve still managed to deal with that.

"At Stoke in our first year I don't think we won our first away game until February or March time, so Brighton are already ahead of the game. They’ve got a good blend of players and it all looks good for them."